


Kentucky for Christmas

by epithalamium



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 04:06:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13379811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epithalamium/pseuds/epithalamium
Summary: Aoi didn’t feel like a stranger, even if Junpei had known him for a grand total of three weeks. Maybe because hewasAkane’s brother; his lopsided smile after delivering a very bad joke and the way he worried at his lip when deep in thought like flashes of familiar spots in the strange landscape that was Santa.Closing his eyes and listening to Aoi breathing softly next to him, Junpei felt less lonely than he had for a long time.





	Kentucky for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be my ZEcret Santa submission, but I thought it was kinda melancholy and J agreed when she read it so I drew something instead. But I still liked this idea, so after a whole lot of revising and wondering if I'm being too vague, I decided to post it anyway.
> 
> Thanks to J and K for the beta and sounding board! Remaining mistakes are my own. 
> 
> The timeline doesn't really match up with [Kissing Santa](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5342924/chapters/12337001) for this to be a missing scene, but it's around the same neighbourhood. If you haven't read that one: Akane leaves Aoi behind after the second Nonary Game because she has seen a future where he dies. Aoi meets up with Junpei sometimes to help him find Akane. Junpei is a detective. In this fic he had a bad day at work. 
> 
> And for those who haven't seen it, I do recommend Chris Broad's [KFC Christmas feast experience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFw-TZzqX8M).

Hugh Grant died on Christmas Eve. Not the actor, who was alive and well at the age of sixty seven, but a detective from Junpei's agency that kept insisting he looked like the actor. There wasn't much of a resemblance, but everyone called him Hugh anyway. Junpei thought there was a lot of affectionate mockery in it. 

Hugh wasn't a bad guy; a bit full of himself but Junpei couldn't blame him. After all, Hugh had to babysit the clueless newbie who got into the agency at the strength of questionable intel about SOIS and the recommendation of a Japanese detective. He’d been abrasive and treated Junpei like a kid sometimes, but he had also been the guy who'd taught Junpei what he needed to know to be halfway decent at his job.

And Junpei needed all the help he could get. The language barrier was bad enough--Junpei’s grasp of English wasn't too bad but he wasn't going to read Raymond Chandler novels any time soon. His biggest problem was ignorance; he knew very little about America aside from what he'd seen from popular culture. Junpei wasn't stupid, at least not in the way Hugh had thought he was, but being unfamiliar with the politics and the terrain made him a liability. 

The agency must have really wanted whatever information they could get about SOIS. Junpei had felt no guilt when he'd traded off his knowledge about the group to get a leg up--there was no love lost between them and he wouldn't trust them with his mother’s name. But he did wish he hadn't needed to ask Seven for help. Not that the guy hadn't been willing, but Junpei knew Seven would feel responsible if Junpei ever fucked up at work, not to mention got himself killed. 

It was a good thing Junpei had no plans to die any time soon; he'd done enough dying in various histories to satisfy Buddhists. On the other hand, he sure as hell had fucked up his first major mission with Hugh. It was the kind of mistake that, had they been in Japan, would have warranted the dogeza in its traditional meaning. But they weren't in Japan and he wasn't going to prostrate himself on the filthy floor of their office. 

‘Don't beat yourself up about it, kid,’ Hannah Kim said. She was a senior detective at the agency and partly the reason why Seven's recommendation had worked. Apparently she'd worked on a drug case with the Japanese police force before, and they must have left a good impression. But she was tight-lipped about everything else; that was the extent of Junpei's knowledge about her and her past. 

‘It was me they'd noticed,’ said Junpei. He and Hugh had spent the week tailing a bunch of guys that the agency had marked for organ trafficking. That had been Junpei’s first mistake: back in Japan he wouldn’t have stood out and he’d assumed he’d be able to blend in with the Asian tourists dicking around Las Vegas. The problem was, people were more likely to remember a foreign face if it kept popping up over the course of a week. 

Kim shrugged. ‘Hey, I’m not saying you’re entirely free from blame.’ She grinned when Junpei made a face. ‘But Hugh was your senior and should have prepared for this possibility.’

She wasn’t wrong, but Junpei thought it was pretty rich blaming a dead guy for what had happened. It wasn’t like Hugh hadn’t paid the price for his mistake. 

‘At any rate you can have tonight off,’ Kim went on, giving Junpei a pat on the shoulder. ‘And Christmas too, of course.’

‘We don't really celebrate--’

Kim leaned over to whisper at his ear. ‘This isn't a favour, got it? Like I said, you're not entirely free from blame. Might be good to cool off for a while, you know?’

‘Am I suspended?’ Junpei deserved it of course, but it didn't look too good for his career if he fucked up this badly on his very first mission. 

‘We don't really do that here.’ Kim moved her hand in a shooing motion, as if getting a colleague killed in action wasn't a big deal. ‘Not when Hugh hadn't made the best decisions himself.

‘Don't worry about it,’ she added, before stepping out of the room. ‘We don't expect to live long, in this kind of world. No use bearing a grudge over what's bound to happen, right?’

Something about her tone made Junpei uneasy, but he kept his mouth shut.

*

He considered dropping by one of the bars near the office for a couple drinks, but the time on his phone told him it was past eight in the evening and he took a cab to the Luxor instead.

The Luxor was a showy piece of work, a ‘destination hotel’ comprising a shining pyramid that reminded Junpei of the NERV headquarters[ 1 ], and a couple of towers. The latter were called ‘ziggurats’ on the website, but they looked like normal buildings to Junpei. He headed for the tower side of the hotel; they weren’t quite as flashy on the outside and didn’t have the huge sphinx at the front of the pyramid, but he’d been told the tower rooms were better, even if they lacked the novelty. 

Although the place was packed with holiday tourists, Junpei managed to navigate through the crowd easily enough. He’d never been to fancy hotels before, but he’d had a lot of experience with crowds back in Tokyo. In fact, the hotel’s affluent kitschiness was almost comforting; thinking of the Luxor as an S-rank love hotel made Junpei feel practically homesick. 

Maybe that was one of the reasons _he_ had chosen this hotel.

‘You're fucking late.’ Junpei could hear Aoi's voice even from outside the door. They spoke in Japanese with each other, and that added another layer of surrealism to the whole affair. 

It was like looking into a mirror: an image Junpei knew but in reverse, all that was strange and new in the familiar trappings of home. In Japan he’d never have gone out of his way to rendezvous with a guy with dyed hair, especially not in an S-rank love hotel on Christmas Eve. Yet here he was, doing just that on the other side of the world.

‘Drop dead.’ Aoi had thrown the door open and was shouting right at Junpei’s face, but at least he wasn’t sulking in bed and pretending not to be in his room like he did the last time Junpei was late. It was an improvement. 

‘Tell me there’s beer.’ Junpei pushed Aoi to one side so he could enter the room. It probably wasn’t a good idea to get within Aoi’s biting distance, but Junpei reckoned he had to get inside the room before people started complaining about the noise. 

Aoi gestured at the minibar, his wrath forgotten at the mention of alcohol. He wasn’t really the type that got angry; Junpei had gotten used to seeing him act out in annoyance and irritation, but seldom in real anger. 

‘Apologise to the fish,’ said Aoi. At Junpei’s blank look, he pointed at the table in front of the window. Someone had set it up for dinner; two plates with cuts of salmon and some salad. ‘It’s gotten cold waiting for you.’

Junpei was sure the fish was fine, but if Aoi wanted Junpei to apologise for making him wait, he should just say so. 

‘I’m sorry for making you wait, fish.’ Junpei bowed before hurrying off to fetch two cans of beer from the minibar. 

Aoi snorted and went back to eating without waiting for Junpei. Junpei hoped Aoi didn’t act like that when he was on a date, but if anyone could get away with that kind of behaviour it was Aoi with his wads of cash and annoyingly good visuals. The world made a lot of exceptions for the rich and pretty. 

‘Sit down,’ said Aoi, through a mouthful of salad. He was better at manipulating his silverware than Junpei, but his table manners were about on the same level. ‘I’m getting a crick in the neck looking up at you.’

Junpei sighed as he sat across Aoi. He hadn’t realised how tired he was until he felt the springy softness of the upholstered chair supporting his ass. He heaved another sigh as he pulled the tab off his beer can, wondering if he should start yelling about enjoying cold beer after a long day at work like some old salaryman. He certainly felt like one. 

‘Don’t you have work tomorrow?’ said Aoi, watching as Junpei chugged at his beer. 

‘I got suspended.’

‘Oh?’ Aoi didn’t approve of Junpei’s new job and made no secret of his opinion. Junpei had expected him to gloat over this turn of events, but he just sounded idly curious. 

‘A workmate tried to get rid of me earlier.’ Junpei hadn’t meant to say that aloud but now that he had, suspicions solidified into words, his gut feeling told him he was right. 

Aoi made a ‘huh’ sound but remained silent while he chewed at his forkful of lettuce. 

‘Want me to take care of them?’ he asked. 

Junpei laughed. ‘He’s dead.’ At Aoi’s raised eyebrow he added, ‘Some gang member shot him.’

‘Too bad.’

‘But I appreciate the thought.’

Aoi smiled but refused to meet Junpei's eyes. ‘That's my territory, after all.’

*

Aoi wouldn’t let him sleep in the bathtub: ‘I’m not running into you every fucking time I need to piss’, so they slept on the bed next to each other. Junpei had no idea how that was any better, but the mattress was soft and the bed big enough to fit another person between them. Aoi acted like it wasn’t weird at all.

And it wasn’t. Junpei had grown up an only child and had slept alone in his own room except when visiting relatives or during school trips. But it was only here in America that he knew what it truly meant to be lonely, disconnected from the murmurs and sighs he’d been so used to hearing from the other side of the thin walls. 

Aoi didn’t feel like a stranger, even if Junpei had known him for a grand total of three weeks. Maybe because he _was_ Akane’s brother; his lopsided smile after delivering a very bad joke and the way he worried at his lip when deep in thought like flashes of familiar spots in the strange landscape that was Santa. 

Closing his eyes and listening to Aoi breathing softly next to him, Junpei felt less lonely than he had for a long time.

*

They'd been spotted and followed, despite Hugh's assurances to the contrary. In retrospect the rooftop of some rundown hotel hadn't been the best hiding place, but one could hardly be expected to remain calm when confronted by shouting men brandishing guns. Junpei had followed Hugh like a lost puppy down the unfamiliar streets of Kitsch City and up the back stairs of the hotel without thinking twice about it.

Hugh had thought they'd lost their pursuers. Junpei hadn't been able to access the morphogenetic field since Building Q, but he didn't need to be an esper to know Hugh was wrong. He'd hunkered down behind a water tank and waited for his instincts to stop screaming at him to get as far away from that place as possible through any means necessary.

They'd caught Hugh. Reviewing the day's events in his mind, Junpei reckoned the men had only been trying to scare them off: most of their shots had missed Hugh by a mile, but one of them had gotten lucky and had hit Hugh in the arm. Not a fatal wound, but he’d been standing too close to the edge of the roof and the impact had made him lose his balance. 

‘What about the kid?’

‘Leave it. He’s probably pissing his pants somewhere.’ 

‘He’s gonna tell his fucking boss about us.’

‘Well, somebody has to warn ‘em. Sure as hell ain’t gonna be that guy that fell down.’ 

‘Should have known better, shouldn’t he?’ Junpei could smell cigarette smoke; he had felt his heart jump up his throat when he’d realised how close to his hiding place the men had been. ‘I know that guy; he’d got one of my friends a while back. Didn’t think he’d make a shit mistake like getting trapped up here.’

The men had laughed but Junpei barely heard them.

‘Hugh hadn't made the best decisions,’ Kim had said.

In Junpei's mind he could still hear Hugh's scream. 

‘No use bearing a grudge over what's bound to happen, right?’

‘Hey asshole.’ That was Aoi's voice. That was odd. He hadn't been on the rooftop with Junpei, had he? He sounded like he was speaking from far away, lazy drawl as if he was commenting on the weather. ‘I can't breathe.’

Junpei sat up. Somehow he'd ended up doing a one-eighty degree turn on the bed, one of his legs now on top of Aoi's chest. He could feel Aoi's breath against the underside of his foot. 

‘Sorry.’ He scrambled back to his starting position before Aoi could start pinching. The guy loved pinching. 

‘Fuck you,’ said Aoi.

‘Yeah, yeah.’

Junpei fluffed his pillow back into shape and turned his back to Aoi. He had almost gone back to sleep when Aoi said, ‘He didn't look like Hugh Grant at all.’

*

Something warm and heavy fell on top of his chest. It smelled pretty good, whatever it was.

‘Merry Christmas.’

Junpei opened his eyes to the face of Colonel Sanders on a paper bucket. ‘Hunh.’

‘Do you know how trashy it felt getting takeaway from fucking KFC and hauling it back here?’ 

Aoi was sitting at the foot of the bed. He was already biting into some fried chicken. 

‘Feels fucking nostalgic doesn't it?’ he said.

‘We're here in the land of turkey and you get KFC?’ Junpei placed the bucket to one side before sitting up. ‘It's not even from the premium set.’

‘They don't have that kinda shit here.’ Aoi held up a plastic tub with the hand that wasn't holding a chicken wing. ‘I got lots of mashed potatoes though.’

‘Great,’ said Junpei. Aoi had gotten a bucket of the extra crispy chicken, which was the sort Junpei liked. It was annoying how similar their tastes were. ‘I used to hate it as a kid, but man I’d kill for some ballotine[ 2 ] right now.’ 

‘Didn’t they get rid of that before you started eating solid foods?’

Junpei kicked at Aoi’s shins, carefully avoiding the plastic tubs of mashed potatoes. ‘I’m not that young, dude,’ he said, rummaging around the bucket for a chicken breast. He expected Aoi to start yelling at him for that, but the guy was surprisingly chill about someone else touching his food. ‘Hey.’ He waited for Aoi to look up from his chicken before saying, ‘Thanks.’

‘It’s been ages since I had KFC for Christmas.’

‘What?’ said Junpei, in scandalised tones. ‘What have you been eating then? Unbelievable.’ 

Aoi laughed. ‘Yeah well, Japan likes KFC way more than America does.’ 

‘It came from America, though,’ Junpei pointed out. ‘That’s like sending out your kids to all parts of the world and not taking care of the ones that stayed at home.’

‘The fuck are you talking about?’ Aoi sounded annoyed but there was a slight twist at the edge of his lips. ‘Foreigners looking to have their traditional Christmas meal in Japan had to settle for KFC, but now it's practically a tradition of its own. Where else can you fucking get chicken with wine sauce from a fast food place?’ 

Junpei took a bite off his chicken and thought it over. ‘People look for the familiar in strange places, don't they? For comfort.’

‘You can have both, you know.’ 

Junpei swallowed, considered taking another bite of chicken, decided against it, and swallowed again. ‘What do you mean?’

‘They don't have to replace each other is what I mean,’ said Aoi. ‘That's why you're here, isn't it? Because I'm the closest you can get to her.’

Junpei couldn't deny that, even if he knew it wasn't fair to Aoi. 

But then again.

Aoi sighed. ‘Sorry about the fake Christmas feast.’

‘Hey I like the fake Christmas feast,’ said Junpei. It wasn't fake. It might have started as an imitation, but Aoi was right: it had become something else, completely separate from where it came from. ‘And you said I can have both.’

‘Did I?’ Aoi moved so he could place his feet on Junpei’s thighs. His feet were cold and Junpei only stopped complaining when Aoi started kicking. ‘Do you know this place has a Titanic exhibit[ 3 ]? Wanna go later?’

Junpei scowled. ‘Shut up and eat your fucking chicken.’

*

**Author's Note:**

> 1  
>  From popular anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion; an organisation whose primary purpose is to combat Angels. Here's a [photo of the NERV HQ](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/evangelion/images/c/c9/NERV_HQ_%28Rebuild%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20120320203334). And a [photo of the Luxor](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/f3/fb/35/il-luxor-hotel.jpg) for comparison. 
> 
> Y'all know Junpei loved his mecha anime.  
> [ return to text ]
> 
> 2  
> Poultry stuffed with forcemeat. Used to be part of Japan KFC's [Colonel's Dish menu](http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/devour/2013/07/kfc-japan-colonels-dish-menu). The link redirects me to the main menu so I guess they've discontinued the whole thing at some point after 2014. Hence Aoi's joke about how KFC stopped making ballotine before Junpei could eat solid foods. Ftr, Junpei would have been eight years old.  
> [ return to text ]
> 
> 3  
> A [thing that actually exists](https://www.luxor.com/en/entertainment/titanic.html) in the same hotel that looks like the NERV HQ. How cool is that?  
> [ return to text ]


End file.
